Swim goggles for improving swimming technique

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a device for improving a user&#39;s sighting swimming technique, particularly in open waters. The device may be a pair of goggles that includes a lens and an angle-dependent darkening mechanism configured to darken a portion of the lens depending on an angle of the user&#39;s head. In some embodiments, the goggles may include a front transparent lens, a rear transparent lens, and a cavity between the front transparent lens and the rear transparent lens; and the darkening mechanism may be volume of opaque liquid filling a portion of the cavity. Alternatively, the device may be a detachable lens configured to attach to a standard pair of goggles, wherein the detachable lens includes a front transparent lens, a rear transparent lens, a cavity between the front transparent lens and the rear transparent lens, and the darkening mechanism positioned within the cavity.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to provisional patent application U.S.Ser. No. 62/028,241 filed on Jul. 23, 2014, the entire contents of whichis herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments herein relate generally to athletic accessories, andmore particularly, to a swim goggles for improving swimming technique.

Swimming in open water proves to be a difficult skill to learn.Visibility in the water is limited, and the swimmer must use thetechnique of sighting to know his or her direction. However, mostswimmers learn and practice swimming in a swimming pool. In thisenvironment, the swimmer has clear water to see in, lanes to stay in,and lines to guide them. This prevents them from efficiently learningthe technique of sighting, which is a critical aspect of open waterswimming.

Therefore, what is needed are swim goggles comprising a mechanism thatblocks a portion of the lenses to mimic the field of vision available toa swimmer when swimming in open waters.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a device forimproving a user's sighting swimming technique, particularly in openwaters. The device may be a pair of goggles that includes a lens and anangle-dependent darkening mechanism configured to darken a portion ofthe lens depending on an angle of the user's head. In some embodiments,the goggles may include a front transparent lens, a rear transparentlens, and a cavity between the front transparent lens and the reartransparent lens; and the darkening mechanism may be volume of opaqueliquid filling a portion of the cavity. Alternatively, the device may bea detachable lens configured to attach to a standard pair of goggles,wherein the detachable lens includes a front transparent lens, a reartransparent lens, a cavity between the front transparent lens and therear transparent lens, and the darkening mechanism positioned within thecavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention is madebelow with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numeralsrepresent corresponding parts of the figures.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present disclosure,shown in use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top view of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a section detail view of one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side view of one embodiment of the present disclosure, shownin use.

FIG. 6 is a section detail view of one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, shown in use along line 6-6 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side view of one embodiment of the present disclosure, shownin use.

FIG. 8 is a section view of one embodiment of the present disclosure,shown in use.

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of one embodiment of the present disclosure,shown in use along line 9-9 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a side view of one embodiment of the present disclosure,shown in use.

FIG. 11 is a detail side view of one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, shown in use.

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerousdetails, examples, and embodiments of the invention are described.However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth and that theinvention can be adapted for any of several applications.

The device of the present disclosure may be used to mimic the field ofvision available to a swimmer in open water, thus improving theswimmer's swimming technique and may comprise the following elements.This list of possible constituent elements is intended to be exemplaryonly, and it is not intended that this list be used to limit the deviceof the present application to just these elements. Persons havingordinary skill in the art relevant to the present disclosure mayunderstand there to be equivalent elements that may be substitutedwithin the present disclosure without changing the essential function oroperation of the device.

1. Goggles

2. Angle Dependent Mechanism to Darken Lens

The various elements of the swim goggles for mimicking the field ofvision of a swimmer in open water of the present disclosure may berelated in the following exemplary fashion. It is not intended to limitthe scope or nature of the relationships between the various elementsand the following examples are presented as illustrative examples only.

By way of example, and referring to FIGS. 1-12, some embodiments of thedevice of the present disclosure comprise swim goggles 10 configured toengage with a user's 18 head, wherein the lens of the goggles 10comprises a mechanism for darkening at last a portion of the lensdepending of the angle of the user's 18 head.

In some embodiments, the goggles 10 comprise a front transparent lens12, a rear transparent lens 14, a cavity 24 between the fronttransparent lens 12 and the rear transparent lens 14, and a volume ofopaque liquid 16 within the cavity 24, wherein the opaque liquid 16 isconfigured to block at least a portion of the goggles 10, creating alimited field of vision 22 based on how the user 18 has positioned hisor her head. In some embodiments, the volume of opaque liquid 16 may beequal to about half the volume of the cavity 24. For example, when theuser 18 is holding his or her head such that a normal field of vision isperpendicular to the ground, the opaque liquid 16 may blocksubstantially the bottom half of the front transparent lens 12 and therear transparent lens 14, such that the user 18 can only see out of thetop half of the goggles 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when a user 18 isswimming and looking straight ahead, the angle of the user's 18 head maycause the opaque liquid 16 to block a portion of the front transparentlens 12 and the rear transparent lens 14, such as about half of eachlens. When the user 18 is looking downward into the water, as shown inFIGS. 5-7, the opaque liquid 16 may block substantially all of the fronttransparent lens 12 and the rear transparent lens 14, such that the user18 cannot see through the goggles 10. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 8 and9, when a user 18 is looking to his or her side, the opaque liquid 16may block either a substantial portion of the right half or the lefthalf of each of the transparent lenses 12, 14 depending on which way theuser 18 is looking In any case and no matter how a user 18 holds his orher head, the goggles 10 of the present invention may block the user'sfield of vision 22 into the water. As a result, the swimmer 18 may berequired to learn how to sight, improving his or her swimming technique.

Some embodiments of the invention may further comprise a level bubblepositioned in the lenses of the goggles 10, such that a user 18 knowswhether his or her head is level, which in turn may help a user 18 knowwhether his or her swimming technique is correct. Additionally, in someembodiments, the front transparent lens 12 may be concave to help theopaque liquid 16 concentrate to the middle of the lens.

In an alternate embodiment and as shown in FIG. 12, the device of thepresent disclosure may comprise a pair of detachable lenses 26configured to attach to a standard pair of goggles 28, wherein thedetachable lenses 26 comprise a fastener, such as a hook 30, forconnecting the detachable lenses 26 to the goggles 28. In suchembodiment, each detachable lens 26 may comprise a front transparentlens, a rear transparent lens, a cavity between the front transparentlens and the rear transparent lens, and a volume of opaque liquid withinthe cavity, wherein the opaque liquid is configured to block at least aportion of the detachable lens 26 and, thus, at least a portion of thelens of the standard goggles 28, creating a limited field of visionbased on how the user has positioned his or her head, as explainedabove. Thus, the device of the present disclosure may comprise anaccessory configured to attach to a standard pair of goggles 28, suchthat a user 18 may use his or her standard goggles 28 as normal and onlyattach the device of the present disclosure when desired. While thedetachable lenses 26 are described above and shown in FIG. 12 usinghooks 30 as a fastener, any conventional fastener configured to attachthe detachable lenses 26 to the standard goggles 28 may be used.

Instead of an opaque liquid 16 being positioned between a fronttransparent lens 12 and a rear transparent lens 14, the darkeningmechanism may comprise a small rolling material, such as metal balls.Alternatively, holographic lenses or angle dependency lenses could beused instead of the opaque liquid 16 to block the swimmer's view ofvarious viewing angles. Similarly, an electronic darkening lens could beused by using a switch, such as a gravity switch, that would turn on andoff the darkened lens by the angle of the swimmer's head. In fact, anyangle-dependent darkening mechanism or device for blocking the swimmer'sview of various viewing angles may be used in place of the opaque liquid16.

To use the swim goggles of the present disclosure, a user would put theswim goggles on like conventional goggles and then begin swimming.Alternatively, the user may attach the detachable lenses to a standardpair of goggles. In either instance, the lenses may allow the swimmer topractice open water sighting techniques by simulating what it is like toswim in open water.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous designconfigurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of theinventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations andarrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of theinvention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather thannarrowed by the embodiments described above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pair of swim goggles for improving a user'ssighting swimming technique, the swim goggles comprising: a lens; and adarkening mechanism configured to darken a portion of the lens dependingon an angle of the user's head.
 2. The swim goggles of claim 1, whereinthe darkening mechanism is a member selected from the group consistingof a volume of opaque liquid, a rolling material, an angle-dependentholographic material, and an electronic darkening lens.
 3. The swimgoggles of claim 1, wherein: when a user's head is positioned such thata normal field of vision is perpendicular to the ground, the darkeningmechanism is configured to block a bottom half of the lens, such that auser can only see out of a top half of the lens; when the user isswimming and looking straight ahead, the darkening mechanism isconfigured to block about half of the lens; when the user is lookingdownward, the darkening mechanism is configured to block an entiresurface of the lens, such that the user cannot see through the lens. 4.The pair of swim goggles of claim 1, wherein: the goggles comprise afront transparent lens, a rear transparent lens, and a cavity betweenthe front transparent lens and the rear transparent lens; and thedarkening mechanism comprises a volume of opaque liquid filling aportion of the cavity.
 5. The pair of swim goggles of claim 4, whereinthe volume of opaque liquid is equal to about half a volume of thecavity.
 6. A device for mimicking a field of vision available to aswimmer when swimming in open waters, the device comprising: adetachable lens configured to removably attach to a pair of swimminggoggles, the detachable lens comprising: a darkening mechanismconfigured to darken a portion of the detachable lens depending on anangle of a swimmer's head; and a fastener configured to engage with apair of goggles, such that the detachable lens is removably attached tothe goggles and aligned with a goggle lens.
 7. The device of claim 6,wherein the darkening mechanism is a member selected from the groupconsisting of a volume of opaque liquid, a rolling material, anangle-dependent holographic material, and an electronic darkening lens.8. The device of claim 6, wherein: when a user's head is positioned suchthat a normal field of vision is perpendicular to the ground, thedarkening mechanism is configured to block a bottom half of the lens,such that a user can only see out of a top half of the lens; when theuser is swimming and looking straight ahead, the darkening mechanism isconfigured to block about half of the lens; when the user is lookingdownward, the darkening mechanism is configured to block an entiresurface of the lens, such that the user cannot see through the lens. 9.The device of claim 6, wherein: the goggles comprise a front transparentlens, a rear transparent lens, and a cavity between the fronttransparent lens and the rear transparent lens; and the darkeningmechanism comprises a volume of opaque liquid filling a portion of thecavity.
 10. The device of claim 9, wherein the volume of opaque liquidis equal to about half a volume of the cavity.